Madeleine's parents: 'We can't tell the twins she may be dead'

Kate and Gerry McCann are refusing to tell their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie that Madeleine might be dead, the couple have revealed.

"When Madeleine first went missing we told them that she was on a little trip," said Mr McCann.

"Now we tell them that she is not here at the moment."

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However, Mr McCann denied that he is trying to hide the truth from his children, saying: "We talk about Madeleine to the twins all the time. It's not a hidden subject. We answer the twins' questions.

"They are also surrounded by all of her toys and belongings and all the pictures of her.

"There are no attempts to shield them from Madeleine and the memory of her."

The McCanns say they continue to cling to the hope that Madeleine is still alive.

Although they say they have considered the possibility that she may be dead, the couple have repeatedly declared that they will be unable to rest until they find out what happened to Madeleine.

Yesterday Mrs McCann revealed that despite the turmoil they are going through, the couple have had some brief uplifting moments since they returned to their home village of Rothley, Leicestershire.

"I found it very uplifting to go to church in Rothley," she said. "It was nice to see everybody from the local community.

"They were very supportive and that meant a lot for both of us.

"For both of us it was lovely to see Sean and Amelie back in their own environment playing on the slides in the garden and messing around in the toy room.

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"We are very pleased with the support we have got from our immediate neighbours."

She also revealed she was touched to get the support of the Portuguese woman whom the McCanns have employed to email them a digest of the country's newspapers every day.

"We were very touched by the fact that she's conveyed to us that she thinks we are innocent of any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, and that everybody that she has spoken to in Praia da Luz feels the same.

"We have brief uplifting moments, but then something happens, like a bad report, and that's it.

"The only thing that will make us truly happy is that we find Madeleine or what has happened to her."

Astonishingly, Mrs McCann also revealed that despite the couple's ordeal in Portugal, the couple are considering returning to the country on holiday.

"There are a number of reasons why we may go back. We have friends over there we may wish to visit, as well as the continuing liaison with our advisers.

"We may go back to discuss matters with our advisers, but there is nothing planned at the moment.

"But we don't see any circumstances in which we will never go back."

She added: "There are lots of reasons, both spiritual, emotional and social, for us to return to Portugal. We will be going back of our own volition as and when we wish to."

In the weeks after Madeleine first went missing, the couple travelled all over Europe and also to America and Morocco to raise the case's profile.

However, yesterday Mrs McCann made it clear that the couple are not considering another European publicity tour.